Martin has his principles, but LSU has Les Miles

by
Jim Carty | The Ann Arbor News

Wednesday December 05, 2007, 3:01 PM

AP PhotoBill Martin says he thinks he did the right thing in respecting his commitment by not returning a call from Les Miles' agent.

Yes, Bill Martin got a message from Les Miles' agent late last week.

The University of Michigan athletic director confirmed that in a phone call early Wednesday afternoon. The details were a little different from what the LSU coach's agent, George Bass, told The Ann Arbor News - Martin said he got one message, last Thursday.

But the bottom line remains the same.

With Louisiana State preparing a big contract extension intended to keep Miles coaching the Tigers, Bass was calling to find out where the former Michigan player and assistant stood as a candidate to replace Lloyd Carr.

Was Miles, as many in the media were reporting, Michigan's top candidate?

Martin did not return the phone call.

Miles opted to stay at LSU.

Martin stands by his decision.

He said when he received permission to contact Miles from LSU last Wednesday, he agreed to wait until after Saturday's Southeastern Conference title game between the Tigers and Tennessee, and believes that promise to wait extended to Miles agent as well.

"I did (call), Sunday morning," Martin said. "Why Sunday morning? I committed not to talk to Les Miles, directly or indirectly before the championship game on Saturday. That's the way this process is done, or at least the way I'm honoring the process."

But what about LSU athletic director Skip Bertman's comments in last Wednesday's Detroit News, in which Bertman specifically said Martin was free to call the agent?

Martin says he never saw them.

The Michigan athletic director confirmed that, yes, he was in Key Largo, Fla., Friday and Saturday. At times, he admits he might have been hard to reach, because he was in meetings with donors.

Yes, at least part of the time he was sailing on his boat in the Atlantic Ocean.

"I was out on the boat with a donor, for an hour," he said.

Martin's mood on the phone was sometimes agitated, sometimes angry.

He clearly believes he's being unfairly portrayed as being out of touch and not working hard enough on the search to find Michigan's new football coach.

He became frustrated when asked where he was this weekend, insisting that it didn't matter, that he could conduct the coach search from anywhere. He explained that at least part of the problem was he had switched from a Treo phone to a Blackberry and was having some technical problems.

He would not answer any questions related to where the search stands, whether it's in trouble, whether his decision to wait cost Michigan the chance to hire Miles or anything else.

When asked whether he believed a more aggressive athletic director would have called the agent regardless of any promises to LSU, Martin insisted that the athletic directors he respects would have waited.

"I absolutely do," he said. "I think this is the way the process should be done. If you have any respect for our peer institutions, for other professionals."

Others obviously disagree, including the LSU athletic director.

While Martin was waiting until Sunday, Bertman was using the extra time to throw millions at Miles, even as Miles and his agent desperately looked to Michigan for some sort of sign that they had another option.

By Saturday night, LSU had Miles locked up before Martin could pick up the phone.

Pretty slick move by Bertman, huh?

Think LSU's fans and Martin's peer institutions in the Big Ten are impressed by Michigan's prim and proper refusal to return a phone call?

And when asked what he'd say to fans who disagree with those principles, who believe he needed to return George Bass' phone call, Martin didn't hesitate to answer. He suggested anyone unhappy with how he's conducting the search get in touch with school president Mary Sue Coleman.

"What they should do is write Mary Sue and say I didn't conduct the process the way they wanted it done," Martin said.

Itr is kind of funny. If Martin REALLY wanted Les Miles then he would have REALLY went after him! Martin you are a FRAUD. Keep charging $45 a ticket and get some average coach that you only want to pay a 3rd of what a REAL coach would receive. I think everyone in Ann Arbor can hear your a$$ cheeks squeaking as you walk to your car you tight A$$!

Somehow what is getting lost in the discussion about what Martin did or did not do (or should or should not have done) is this:

Was Miles really so desperate on Friday night that he felt he had to take LSU's offer on the table, right then & there?

Let me get this straight: we're supposed to believe that Miles absolutely could not wait until this week to find out if UM wanted to make him their new HC? And that if Miles did not agree to the contract LSU had on the table Friday night, it would forever be pulled, and he'd soon be a coach without a team?

Puh-leeeze! That's an insult to his Michigan education.

Accepting that premise either makes Miles (and his agent) look either hopelessly naive and ill-informed, or dumb and easily manipulated -- hardly likely given Miles has a degree in Economics.

If LSU really did want to keep Miles, the offer would still be there for him later -- evidence borne out by the fact that LSU is now re-working that same deal b/c they are now in the BCS title game. In fact, the revised deal cannot even be signed until after the title game (b/c the LSU board cannot approve it until their next meeting in Jan.)!

So, were Miles and his agent just gaming the Tigers into a sweetened deal? Sure looks that way. Did he ever, truly want to leave LSU to become the UM coach? I'd like to think so, but the evidence suggests not, otherwise he would've waited until this week to talk to Martin, as he originally said he would.

LSU told Miles he had to take the offer before the SEC championship on Saturday or the offer would be off the table. Since the offered 3.5 million and Miles wasn't even called back, what is he supposed to do?

No, rci, you're missing my point: Was Miles so naive as to think that LSU's offer would forever be off the table is he didn't take it right then? Come on! If that's the case, I've got some property down in the Everglades to sell him...

What should Miles have done? Waited until after he had talked to Martin, as he said he was going to. LSU wasn't about to let Miles walk; they called Miles' bluff, and he blinked.

Regardless, it seems apparent that Miles never seriously intended on taking the UM job at all. And Martin is left looking like he fumbled away the one chance to get Miles.

Granted, Martin comes off looking awfully bad in all this, but Miles is being given a free pass, and I'm not buying his story (yet).

I have never read anywhere that LSU told Miles he had to accept that contract before the SEC Championship game. Where has that been reported? And even if it were true, its meaningless. Miles holds all the cards! Anyone with half a brain knows that if LSU says "either take this deal now or its off the table" it's a bluff. All he has to do is not commit to anything, wait until after the game, at which point Michigan had permission to talk to him, and play the two schools against each other. If Michigan is making any kind of serious offer, which they would, LSU is back up to offering a king's randsome in no time.

To me, it sounds like Carty is intent on skewering Bill Martin no matter what the facts are. On one hand a deal was basically done for Miles to be announced as Michigan's next coach, but on the other Martin was doing nothing to court Miles? What?? Martin has permission to talk to Miles after the LSU game, but can talk to his agent any time he wants? That's not how it works. If LSU doesn't want Miles distracted by Michigan offers, that means they don't want his agent distracting him with Michigan offers either.

All Miles had to do was wait 6 hours and Michigan would have been talking to him. But he got bent out of shape about the ESPN report, started feeling sentimental toward his players, and jumped at the $$ LSU through his way. Meanwhile, Martin and Michigan were honoring their agreement to begin the process AFTER the SEC Championship game. NO. You don't return the agents call if you've told LSU you won't do anything until after a certain game.

To suggest that Martin wasn't intent on hiring Miles is moronic. He was the "beyond reproach" candidate. If Miles came here and fell flat on his butt, Martin wouldn't be at fault. He handed us a guy who won 11 games in the SEC three straight years and was coming off a conference championship and a possible NC. And a "Michigan Man" to boot. No brainer.

What Martin didn't anticipate was that Les couldn't wait until after the game, per the stipulation with LSU, and would "knee jerk" a deal with his current school because he was pissed at ESPN. ALL THE MAN HAD TO DUE WAS CHILL FOR 7 MORE HOURS. Play the game with Tennessee, then answer the phone.

Did either of you read the article where LSU Athletic Director Skip Bertman said it was OK for UM to talk w/ Les Miles' Agent?

Let me repeat: LSU ATHLETIC DIRECTOR SKIP MARTIN SAID IT WAS OK FOR MARTIN TO TALK TO MILES' AGENT!!!!!!!!!!!

AHHHHHH!!!!!!!!! WHAT ARE YOU PEOPLE MISSING HERE?

Martin said he didn't know Bertman publicly gave him that permission. If Martin isn't aware of the acceptable protocol AS DECREED BY THE GODFORSAKEN LSU ATHLETIC DIRECTOR HIMSELF (!) then he isn't doing his job.

I'd encourage him to get on his friend's sailboat and set a course for as far from Ann Arbor as possible. He absolutely butchered this. And unless, he gets on his knees and begs Miles to reconsider, there is no way for him to make up for this colossal failure.

Why did Martin ask LSU for permission to talk with Miles in the first place? All he needed to do was give LSU's AD a courtesy call saying he's going to contact Miles about the Michigan opening.

What if he asked for permission and LSU's AD did not give the permission? Is Martin supposed to sit there and not contact a qualified coach who wants the job?

Martin is not under contract with LSU and should not be asking them for permission for ANYTHING. He works for MICHIGAN -- even though it seems like he's working for himself down in Florida riding a sail boat with donors. It's well documented that Martin is a bigger fan of sale boats than athletics in general.

I'm not giving Martin an out on this; he's culpable, too. All I'm saying is, why aren't the media more closely scrutinizing what Miles and his agent, George Bass, did last weekend?

Again I say: If anyone truly believes that LSU had an offer on the table on Friday night, and said that the deal had to be done before the game on Saturday or it would forever be pulled, and Miles bought that line, I have a bridge in NY to sell you, too.

Did they just play Martin? Or were they so gawd-awful dumb that they didn't know what any college football fan with a pulse knew, that UM was (b>very interested in Miles (in fact, Martin's top guy)?

Miles is no dummy, and neither is Bass. Don't just villify Martin and give Miles a pass on this.

Miles is a Michigan Man. He (and/or Bass) had to know that (a) Martin had an agreement with LSU's Beckman to not talk to Miles until after the game, and that (b) Martin, as a Michigan Man, would honor that agreement, and would view any contact with Bass before Sunday as a violation of the spirit of that agreement.

That being said, obviously Martin was not paying very close attention, or he'd have called Bass back on Friday. That is a colossally dumb mistake, and he is being rightfully excoriated for that.

But, I think that if Miles really is Martin's guy, he can and should make one last pitch to him. If Martin doesn't, I think that speaks volumes about why there was no call back in the first place.

Miles made his decsion and it was his to make. If he regrets it, he only has himself to blame. LETS remember money was probably the most important factor and he was well aware what Michigan was going to offer.

So let me get this straight, you honestly believe that when LSU said they didn't want Miles talking to Michigan, they meant that it was okay for HIS AGENT to. That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard; and NO, I never saw an article that said otherwise. Any comment that the LSU athletic director made about Michigan being allowed to talk to Miles agent was self serving and made AFTER all of this went down.

Let me ask you something, after the SEC Championship game, when Michigan was officially allowed to approach Miles about the job, whose phone rings? Les Miles or his agent's? The answer is, HIS AGENT'S. Martin doesn't call Les, he calls his agent. When a school says "we don't want you talking to our guy" they also, OBVIOUSLY, mean we don't want you talking to his agent... because THAT'S who you talk to when you're hammering out a deal. Just like Miles said at his press conference, "Two people speak for me; ME, and George Bass." You're dreaming if you think LSU would have been okay with Martin discussing the Michigan job with Les's agent but not Les.

I have no loyalty to Bill Martin, never met him. But I worked as a team manager for Les when he was a coach here at Michigan, and I LOVE HIM. I wanted him here as much as anyone. But I can also look at the facts and tell that Carty's conclusions don't add up.

This isn't about Martin having "principles" while LSU "has Miles." It's flat out BAD BUSINESS to make a deal with another school and then renege on it. Martin said he wouldn't talk to Coach Miles until after the game and he honored that. He had no reason to believe that Les would agree to an extension with LSU on Saturday, when he knew full well that Michigan was going to be calling him on Sunday. What "assurances" could he have possibly needed? That he was a candidate for the job? That he was the "#1 guy"? The entire planet already knew that!

okay, I started looking and I see the article you're referencing. The LSU AD did say he expected that Martin could and perhaps would talk to Coach Miles agent. Martin should have returned that call. BUT... that being said...

I still haven't heard a decent explanation as to why Coach Miles didn't just put LSU off. What "assurances" did he need from Michigan? The fact that Martin didn't call Bass back right away meant that Michigan was only "luke warm" with him? If he was "this close" to being named Michigan's head coach, he had to have already known that Michigan's interest was white hot.

The other thing I'd like explained is, before all of this happened, SEVERAL writers were saying that Miles wasn't the right guy for the job, now that all of this has happened, all of the sudden Martin should be torched for NOT delivering him. I guess the fact that LSU was fortunate to make it back into the national title picture has everyone second guessing whether or not he was the best candidate. The pressure will be on Martin to make an Urban Meyer type of hire now. If he pulls something like that off, all will be forgiven. If he makes a mid-level hire and that guy falls flat, it'll be the end of him.

As much as I hate to not have Coach Miles, his being out of the picture sure makes the search more favorable for other big name candidates. Now they know they're not wasting their time interviewing for the sake of appearances while Michigan has already nabbed their guy. It's wide open now. Frankly, their are a lot of coaches out there who could come in to Michigan and have great success.

What a disgrace, maintaining your ethics is great, but this is business and in business you are either a leader or a follower. From what I have seen lately Martin is a follower and that should not be acceptable at MICHIGAN. A smart businessman would have already had a deal signed sealed and delivered long before Lloyd announced his retirement. NOW WHAT!